Before the week was over, Thoke surpassed the Crimson career strikeout record previously held by Tasha Cupp '98. She also earned Ivy Pitcher of the Week honors for her performance over the course of the Buzz Classic.

The Buzz Classic

The Buzz Classic is a logistical marvel--25 teams playing 61 games in just three days. After five round-robin pools of five teams complete play, the top 12 teams play for the championship in a single-elimination bracket.

On Friday, Mar. 23, the Crimson stood 0-2 in the round-robin portion of the tournament after a 5-3 loss to Mercer and a 7-0 defeat at the hands of No. 3 California. Whitton did everything for the Crimson against Mercer, hitting two home runs and pitching a complete game, but she couldn't win the game all by herself.

Harvard needed two wins to advance to single-elimination play, and the situation looked bleak with No. 23 Wisconsin and Southeast Missouri State looming on the horizon. But the Crimson won both games in come-from behind, extra-inning fashion.

Harvard trailed 3-1 against Wisconsin, but Thoke shut the Badgers down the rest of the way. Koppel's game-tying home run in the bottom of the sixth and tri-captain Mairead McKendry's 3-for-4, two RBI performance paced the comeback in the 4-3, eight-inning win.

In the following game against SMS, Koppel put Harvard up early with a two-run blast. SMS tied the game then took the lead in the eighth, but Harvard came back, scoring on sacrifices in the eighth and ninth for another 4-3 win.

Harvard earned second place in its pool and the 10th seed of the championship tournament, drawing seventh-seed Connecticut in the first round the same evening.